Department of the South.--Gen. Hunter Enlisting Colored Men.--Letter to
Gov. Andrew.--Success.--The Earnest Prayer.--The Negro’s Confidence in
God.
The Northern regiments stationed at the South, or doing duty in that
section, had met with so many reverses on the field of battle, and had
been so inhumanly treated by the rebels, both men and women, that the
new policy announced by Adjutant-Gen. Thomas, at Lake Providence and
other places, was received with great favor, especially when the white
soldiers heard from their immediate commanders, that the freedmen, when
enlisted, would be employed in doing fatigue-duty, when not otherwise
needed. The slave, regarding the use of the musket as the only means of
securing his freedom permanently, sought the nearest place of enlistment
with the greatest speed.
The appointment of men from the ranks of the white regiments over the
blacks caused the former to feel still more interest in the new levies.
The position taken by Major-Gen. Hunter, in South Carolina, and his
favorable reports of the capability of the freedmen for military
service, and the promptness with which that distinguished scholar and
Christian gentleman, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, accepted the colonelcy
of the First South Carolina, made the commanding of negro regiments
respectable, and caused a wish on the part of white volunteers to seek
commissions over the blacks.
The new regiments filled up rapidly; the recruits adapted themselves to
their new condition with a zeal that astonished even their friends;
and their proficiency in the handling of arms, with only a few days’
training, set the minds of their officers at rest with regard to their
future action. The following testimonial from Gen. Hunter is not without
interest:--
“Headquarters Department of the South,
“Hilton Head, Port Royal, S.C., May 4, 1863.
_“To His Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts, Boston, Mass._
“I am happy to be able to announce to you my complete and eminent
satisfaction with the results of the organization of negro regiments in
this department. In the field, so far as tried, they have proved brave,
active, enduring, and energetic, frequently outrunning, by their zeal,
and familiarity with the Southern country, the restrictions deemed
prudent by certain of their officers. They have never disgraced their
uniform by pillage or cruelty, but have so conducted themselves, upon
the whole, that even our enemies, though more anxious to find fault with
these than with any other portion of our troops, have not yet been
able to allege against them a single violation of any of the rules of
civilized warfare.
“These regiments are hardy, generous, temperate, patient, strictly
obedient, possessing great natural aptitude for arms, and deeply imbued
with that religious sentiment--call it fanaticism, such as like--which
made the soldiers of Cromwell invincible. They believe that now is
the time appointed by God for their deliverance; and, under the heroic
incitement of this faith, I believe them capable of showing a courage,
and persistency of purpose, which must, in the end, extort both victory
and admiration.
“In this connection, I am also happy to announce to you that the
prejudices of certain of our white soldiers and officers against these
indispensable allies are rapidly softening, or fading out; and that we
have now opening before us in this department, which was the first
in the present war to inaugurate the experiment of employing colored
troops, large opportunities of putting them to distinguished and
profitable use.
“With a brigade of liberated slaves already in the field, a few more
regiments of intelligent colored men from the North would soon place
this force in a condition to make extensive incursions upon the main
land, through the most densely populated slave regions; and, from
expeditions of this character, I make no doubt the most beneficial
results would arise.
“I have the honor to be, Governor,
“Very respectfully,
“Your most obedient servant,
“D. HUNTER,
“_Major-Gen. Commanding.”_
Reports from all parts of the South gave corroborative evidence of the
deep religious zeal with which the blacks entered the army. Every thing
was done for “God and liberty.”
Col. T. W. Higginson, in “The Atlantic Monthly,” gives the following
prayer, which he heard from one of his contraband soldiers:--
Let me so lib dat when I-die I shall _hab manners_; dat I shall know
what to say when I see my heabenly Lord.
“‘Let me lib wid de musket in one hand, an’ de Bible in de oder--dat if
I die at de muzzle of de musket, die in de water, die on de land, I may
know I hab de bressed Jesus in my hand, an’ hab no fear.
“‘I hab lef my wife in de land o’ bondage; my little ones dey say eb’ry
night, “Whar is my fader?” But when I die, when de bressed mornin’
rises, when I shall stan’ in de glory, wid one foot on de water an’ one
foot on de land, den, O Lord! I shall see my wife an’ my little chil’en
once more.’”
“These sentences I noted down, as best I could, beside the glimmering
camp-fire last night. The same person was the hero of a singular little
_contre-temps_ at a funeral in the afternoon. It was our first funeral.
The man had died in hospital, and we had chosen a picturesque burial
place above the river, near the old church, and beside a little nameless
cemetery, used by generations of slaves. It was a regular military
funeral, the coffin being draped with the American flag, the escort
marching behind, and three volleys fired over the grave. During the
services, there was singing, the chaplain deaconing out the hymn in
their favorite way. This ended, he announced his text: ‘This poor
man cried, and the Lord heard him, and delivered him out of all his
trouble.’ Instantly, to my great amazement, the cracked voice of the
chorister was uplifted, intoning the text, as if it were the first verse
of another hymn. So calmly was it done, so imperturbable were all the
black countenances that I half began to conjecture that the chaplain
himself intended it for a hymn, though I could imagine no prospective
rhyme for _trouble_, unless it were approximated by _debbil_; which is,
indeed, a favorite reference, both with the men and with his reverence.
But the chaplain, peacefully awaiting, gently repeated his text after
the chant, and to my great relief the old chorister waived all further
recitative, and let the funeral discourse proceed.
“Their memories are a vast bewildered chaos of Jewish history and
biography; and most of the great events of the past, down to the period
of the American Revolution, they instinctively attribute to Moses.
There is a fine bold confidence in all their citations, however, and the
record never loses piquancy in their hands, though strict accuracy may
suffer. Thus one of my captains, last Sunday, heard a colored exhorter
at Beaufort proclaim, ‘Paul may plant, _and may polish wid water_, but
it won’t do,’ in which the sainted Apollos would hardly have recognized
himself.
“A correspondent of the Burlington “Free Press” gives an account of a
Freedmen’s meeting at Belle Plain, Va. “Some of the negro prayers and
exhortations were very simple and touching. One said in his prayer, ‘O
Lord! we’s glad for de hour when our sins nailed us to de foot of de
cross, and de bressed Lord Jesus put his soft arm around us, and tole us
dat we’s his chilien: we’s glad we’s sinners, so dat we can be saved by
his grace.’ Another thus earnestly prayed for the army of freedom:
“‘O Lord! bress de Union army; be thou their bulwarks and ditches. O
Lord! as thou didst hear our prayer when we’s down in de Souf country,
as we held de plow and de hoe in the hot sun, so hear our prayer at dis
time for de Union army. Guard’em on de right, and on de lef,’ and in
de rear: don’t lef’ ‘em ‘lone, though they’s mighty wicked.’ Another (a
young man) thus energetically desired the overthrow of Satan’s empire:
‘O Lord! if you please, sir, won’t you come forth out of de heaven, and
take ride ‘round about hell, and give it a mighty shake till de walls
fall down.’
“A venerable exhorter got the story of the Prodigal Son slightly mixed,
but not so as to damage the effect at all. He said, ‘He rose up and went
to his fader’s house. And I propose he was ragged. And I propose de road
dirty. But when his fader saw him coming over de hill, ragged and dirty,
he didn’t say, “Dat ain’t my son.” He go and meet him. He throw his arms
round his neck and kiss; and, while he was hugging and kissing him, he
thought of dat robe in de wardroom, and he said, “Bring dat robe, and
put it on him.” And when dey was a putting on de robe, he thought of de
ring, dat splendid ring! and he said, “My son, dat was dead and is alive
again, he like dat ring, cos it shine so.” And he made dem bring de
ring and put it on his hand; and he put shoes on his feet, and killed de
fatted calf. And here, my friends, see defection of de prodigal for his
son. But, my bredren, you are a great deal better off dan de prodigal’s
son. For he hadn’t no gemmen of a different color to come and tell him
dat his fader was glad to hab him come home again. But dese handmaid
bredren has kindly come dis evening to tell us dat our heabenly Father
wants us to come back now. He’s ready to gib us de robe and de ring.
De bressed Lord Jesus stands leaning over de bannisters of heaven, and
reaching down his arms to take us up. O my friends! I ask you dis night
to repent. If you lose your soul, you’ll never get anoder. I tell you
all, if you don’t repent you’re goin’ straight to hell; and in de
last day, when de Lord say to you, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlastin’ fire,” if you’re ‘onorable, you’ll own up, and say it’s
right. O my friends.! I tell you de truth: it’s de best way to come to
de Lord Jesus dis night.’”.
Regiment after regiment of blacks were mustered into the United-States
service, in all the rebel States, and were put on duty at once, and were
sooner or later called to take part in battle.